


white nights | togami byakuya

by nihilisten



Series: my reader inserts [33]
Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25513738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nihilisten/pseuds/nihilisten
Summary: Lying to him isn’t going to work, is it.[togami byakuya/reader]
Relationships: Togami Byakuya/Reader
Series: my reader inserts [33]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1048064
Comments: 2
Kudos: 125





	white nights | togami byakuya

Closing the door to your bedroom, a faint buzz of voices reaches you—must be the cafeteria. Right, the energetic guy has been blabbering about ‘meetings’ of some sort, but you haven’t come once unless something happened. Something, meaning someone was killed.

Ignoring the hustle and bustle, you head upstairs.

Life at Hope’s Peak Academy isn’t exactly a normal one. It can get liveable, though. You don’t miss the sun nor the people, if anything, you wish there was a hairdresser who could tame the locks that are only growing longer. But it’s of little use thinking about what you can’t have; all that’s left is existence, whether one chooses to cling to it or not.

Once on the second floor, you stop in front of a large door. Deep breath. Your hand turns the doorknob.

Whenever you arrive at the library, he’s usually there.

Not that you care, to be honest, it’s not like you purposefully go there to meet him. You loved books ‘back then’, and you love them still. They are about the only thing that distracts your mind from this whole… well, whatever it is. Library has become your favourite place in this academy.

As soon as you enter, you’re greeted by a sharp glare and a chill from Antarctica.

Apparently today is not an exception. Sitting by the only desk, a thick book in his hand, is Togami Byakuya, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny… or something like that. You only know because the people talking to him are usually quite obnoxious, Togami, Togami-kun, and he himself is rather proud of whatever title he has.

“Would you mind disappearing from here?” The heir spits out, not even bothering to hide the venom in his voice. “I’m trying to read.”

Right, there’s another thing about him: not exactly polite.

You’re unsure what surprised you more: Byakuya’s words or the fact that he even spoke to you. Of all the students, none of which have ever heard your voice, you’ve observed that Togami Byakuya isn’t one to start a conversation; most people aren’t worth his attention, and he’s only focused on survival anyway. On making said survival interesting, perhaps.

Your presence in the library, when he seems to be spending most of his free time, must be rather inconvenient in his eyes. Truth be told, you might as well leave. After all, you’ve sworn not to utter a word towards any of your fellow ‘prisoners’, but…

Let’s just say that curiosity got hold of you.

“Well,” you speak up, stumble over words, then try again. It’s been a while since those vocal cords were used. “Well, so am I. If you haven’t noticed, this is a library. What else is it for if not for reading?”

A click of a tongue resounds in the room. It echoes, oddly, as if there weren’t bookshelves full of books blocking every wall, making you flinch. Byakuya fixes his glasses, but no sound leaves his opened mouth; he sighs, only to readjust his grip on the book, and returns to reading.

You don’t realise that you’ve been staring at him until a few minutes later.

Well, that surely was unexpected. You somewhat anticipated Byakuya to try and make you leave, threaten you or even throw you out by force (even if you’re having a hard time imagining Byakuya touch anyone of the ‘commoners’). Apparently, he’s decided to allow you to remain in his presence. You feel like you should be honoured.

Having regained your composure, you sit down on the floor near a bookshelf. There’s only one chair, and he is occupying it, so you don’t dare try to reason with him.

Instead, you immerse in a first book you touch.

Reading is a peculiar activity. The worlds in books are always much more fascinating than the reality – at least, that’s what you used to think. It’s different now. This isn’t a regular library you’re in, this isn’t a regular book in your hand. Everything is a figment of a nightmare, quantum of uneasiness.

Time passes in the silent room. Words slide one after another, but their meaning doesn’t settle in your mind. Faint throbbing on your temple isn’t helping either.

“—an. Hey, woman! I’m talking to you.”

You snap back to reality, realising that Byakuya is calling you with increasing impatience in his voice. Oh goodness, what does one call a dilemma like this, to have been spoken to not once, but twice, by the bespectacled man.

You blink as if to make sure you’re not seeing a mirage. The picture before you remains unchanged: Byakuya is staring at you in disbelief, making a flush creep up your cheeks.

“What’s wrong with you? I wasn’t expecting a commoner to keep up with my reading pace, but you haven’t progressed past that page for half an hour now.”

Shifting in embarrassment, you avoid his gaze. There’s no good explanation to that, so you just make a vague gesture with your hand. Byakuya rolls his eyes (how on Earth does he make rolling one’s eyes look distinguished?) and speaks up again.

“Whatever. More importantly, a question.”

Your eyes flicker from the book to Byakuya at the desk. He’s not looking at you, but there’s no one else in the library he could have addressed. Your mind goes blank at the mere thought of Togami Byakuya asking _you_ a question.

“You don’t seem as stupid as those plebeians out there.” Did he just flatter your intellect? Before you manage to reach an answer, he continues, disregarding your confusion. “Why is it that you’re never engaged when a murder happens?”

“Engaged?” You manage to utter, only to have your voice come out as a weak whisper. “What do you mean, engaged? I’m not planning to kill anyone.”

“Not that.” Byakuya closes his book and looks over at you. In the eye. Whether for the fact he’s sitting above you, or for the sudden eye contact, you feel dizzy. “I mean, you do not partake in any of the activities here. Naturally, I can’t blame you for not wanting to talk with that lot”—he shakes his head slightly as if the mere thought disgusts him—“but you don’t investigate, nor do you speak up during the trials. Not even when you’re suspected. Why is that?”

His matter-of-factly tone reminds you of dreaded small talk that you were always expected to enjoy, back then, outside of this school. Talk about the weather. Y/N-chan, your hair looks so nice. Why are you so aloof? Oh, you don’t mean that something is _actually_ bothering you?

Funny thing, really.

While you haven’t been expecting Byakuya to talk to you of his own accord, the topic isn’t surprising. It’s been asked times and times before. Not once have you answered truthfully. People are foolish, and they are selfish; courteous questions need no honest answer, as long as can the asker can wallow in their own generosity.

Hope? Despair? No matter how scared the other students may be, how disturbing the occurrences are, those are but empty words. One can’t create despair, it’s already within. That’s why you don’t miss the ‘outside world’. That’s why you refuse to talk to anyone here—or used to, as it seems, because Byakuya certainly won’t take silence for an answer.

His inquisitive eyes narrow ever so slightly behind his glasses. No emotion stains his face and for the first time in your life you feel quite at a loss for words.

Lying to him isn’t going to work, is it.

So you don’t.

“…Because I don’t care.”

You shrug, as dismissive as you can get. A short sentence that explains nothing. Under other circumstances, with someone else, it might have worked. Byakuya, though, doesn’t do so much as bat an eye, gaze glued to your face keeping you in place. You’re starting to feel impressed.

“You don’t care about getting out? Or if someone kills you?”

A sharp breath hitches in your throat. How can he say it so indifferently? Those words, they shouldn’t have been said. Ever. As soon as they are spoken, they affect the reality, make it more _real_ , and it becomes impossible to truly ‘not care’.

They aren’t meant to be known to anyone. You’ve rejected them yourself.

Because they are terrifying.

Byakuya lets out a chuckle—or is it a snort? “It’s okay, you don’t have to answer. I can see through nonsense just fine.” For an unknown reason you’re sure he’s enjoying your troubled situation, though you can’t bring yourself to hate him for it. That much is correct: it’s all nonsense. “In any case, I’m looking forward to the final result of your predicament.”

Words fail you. Your fingers, clutching the book, turn white. For a few seconds, you just stare at Byakuya with your mouth agape.

He’s so sure he’ll survive to see your fate unfold.

You can’t bring yourself to doubt him, either.

“It’s L/N Y/N.”

The name falls out of your mouth before you can realise. Byakuya’s eyes widen slightly from behind his glasses. Shocked, you cover your lips with your palm.

There’s an awkward silence.

For a split second, he looks like he’s about to ask, again, for you to elaborate. To tell him more about the dread, the cursed thoughts that mustn’t be spoken out loud. But Togami Byakuya seems to always be ahead of everyone; perhaps he’s already figured you out. Maybe more so than you have yourself.

“I see.”

None of this matters. The secrets of the school, the identity of the mastermind, not even the survival – all of this is futile and unimportant. So why is it that just now, in the nightmarish library of a nightmarish school, you felt the need to reveal your name to this man?

Byakuya smiles, just a slight twitch of the corners of his lips. His eyes are back to the book in his hand.

You remain silent.

**Author's Note:**

> Do I know what this means? No. Did I enjoy Byakuya? Hell yeah.


End file.
